Period

Jubilant miners display a large gold nugget during the Klondike Gold Rush, c1897. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Library The deadly gold rush

Photo of gauntlets

Q&A Why do we say throw down the gauntlet?

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Bridge Cottage, Wirral. (Photo by Corbis Documentary/Getty Images)

History explorer: the arts and crafts movement . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

19 November 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers arriving on the Mayflower and landing in New England, where they founded the Plymouth Colony. Original artwork: painting by Charles Lucy. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

It is claimed that the Pilgrim Fathers set sail from Plymouth but I’ve also heard that they started in Boston, Lincolnshire. Which is correct?

Cardinal Wolsey going in procession to Westminster Hall. Reproduced from the original by Sir John Gilbert in 1886-7. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Through foreign eyes: the forgotten ambassadors to the Tudor court

February 2017

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Fidel Castro: in pictures

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General History

Q&A Why are kissing gates so called and what is their significance as entrances to graveyards?

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My favourite place: Bethlehem

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BBC World Histories magazine out now!

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Arts and Crafts and unusual inventors . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ill-fated 'Titanic', which sank on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Peter Snow’s six most important documents in history

Lady Hall launches the British India Company passenger liner SS Uganda in Clydeside docks with the traditional bottle of champagne, 1952. The first time champagne was used to launch a ship was when Queen Victoria launched HMS Royal Arthur in 1891. (Photo by George Douglas/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do we smash champagne bottles against new ships?

(Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&A Why do Americans call the British ‘limeys’?

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First World War

What is the origin of the phrase ‘to blow smoke up someone’s arse’?